The present disclosure is related to vehicle control systems and, more particularly, to vehicle control systems using audible sounds.
Voice recognition systems have been devised to allow a control system to take pre-determined actions in response to receiving a particular spoken voice command. In the vehicle field, such voice commands can be used to control the audio system of the vehicle as well as to communicate externally of the vehicle.
However, vehicles are produced throughout the world and thus use voice commands in the language spoken in a particular country. This requires different sound recognition interfaces and may not address dialects or languages spoken by only a small percentage of the people in a country.
US Patent publication US 2012/0229253 discloses a sound activated wireless vehicle door unlock device which is capable of unlocking the vehicle door locks in response to a pre-determined series of knocks or tones issued by the vehicle user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,251 discloses vehicle control systems using voice or tone commands. This system converts the tones generated by tone generators when a steering wheel mounted push buttons are actuated. The tones are only electrical frequencies which are superimposed over the signal frequency sent from the steering wheel controller to the vehicle controller which then decodes the frequency to take the indicated vehicle function action. This system, however, does not generate audible tones which the vehicle driver can hear.
It is known that vehicle drivers, particularly drivers with many years of driving experience, frequently become bored or distracted while driving for a considerable length of time, particularly on highways.
It would be useful to provide an audible recognition system for controlling selected vehicle functions which can also alleviate driver boredom and distraction.